Earlier today, the New Roosevelt Initiative, a political action committee founded by businessman Bill Samuels, opened a field office on the Grand Concourse near West Tremont Avenue. The goal: to convince voters to dump State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr. and replace him with Gustavo Rivera.
The office will be run by Yorman Nunez, a community organizer with the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition.
“Not only do I want the Bronx and voters in the 33rd district to have a Senate Senator they can be proud of, but I want New York State to have the best, most accountable legislature in the country,” said Nunez in a statement released by New Roosevelt. “The first step towards realizing that goal is ousting corrupt politicians like Espada and replacing them with exciting and dynamic reformers such as Gustavo Rivera. I encourage Bronx voters to visit our office and join our important cause.”
In the statement, Nunez is described as a "veteran political organizer" and a "seasoned Bronx field operative," a bit of a stretch considering his age (he turned 22 today, according to his Facebook page). But Nunez does have some political experience. Last year, he ran - albeit briefly - against then-Councilwoman Maria Baez, dropping out before filing his petition signatures. He later worked on Bill Thompson's mayoral campaign, and earlier this year served as Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter's campaign manager. Pilgrim-Hunter, another Espada opponent, ended her challenge in July citing a lack of money.
The New Roosevelt Initiative previously announced it was spending at least $250,000 on its anti-Espada effort. But it came under fire recently from Rivera-supporting labor groups, who say it hasn't been as active as they hoped.
For more about the organization and its new Bronx office, check out this Riverdale Press article.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
New Roosevelt Initiative Opens Bronx Office, Hires Yorman Nunez
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I am sure that NRI is well-intentioned but I don't see how a kid who couldn't get hinself or the candidate that he managed on the ballot is the best person to manage an effort against the consummate crafty politician that is Senator Espada.
ReplyDeleteTo Anonymous at 3:00pm -- NRI (with Doug Forand and Red Horse Strategies running the show) has plenty of veteran political pros who know how to deal will Espada's chicanery. Yorman Nuñez is managing NRI's field office in the district. He clearly knows the district very well and is ideal to run the field office. You are also mis-representing what happened in the Pilgrim-Hunter campaign. There was no failure to get on the ballot. The Pilgrim-Hunter campaign could have easily gotten on the ballot. The signatures were there, the money was not.
ReplyDeleteMaybe yorman will convince Gustavo to bow out if the race. That seems to be his thing (cf. Himself and pilgrim hunter).
ReplyDeleteHow did I mis-represent what happened in Desiree's campaign? She did not make the ballot. Period. Whatever the cause was (lack of funds or support) is secondary. If her candidacy had support (which financial support would have indicated) then she would have made the ballot.
ReplyDeleteAnd as far as Yorman knowing the district, again, the facts inconveniently interrupt your opinion. His knowledge of the district has amount to two failed campaigns. This is not a knock on Yorman, he seems to have a bright future, but I'm not sure how he's the best choice to help take down Espada. If you have "plenty of veteran political pros" why did you dispatch the greenest "seasoned political operative" to the highly significant district office?
Yorman who? That young kid that was running for City Council and put his values away for a job with Thompson's mayoral campaign? Yeah right...
ReplyDeleteIt's so easy as an anonymous poster on a blog to be snarky about other people, as some of you prove every day. If any of you can do what Yorman has done so far in his life, in terms of community organizing and political organizing, step to it, because there's a lot of work to be done in this borough.
ReplyDeleteWhere, in particular, the last anonymous poster gets off saying Yorman "put his values away" is beyond me. He was one of a few candidates in a race against one of our worst City Council incumbents. Every day in a race like that, you have to decide whether you're doing the better thing to stay in and try to win, or get out and leave the race to someone who might be better able to win. It was a hard decision because we knew so little about Cabrera then. But it was a decision that turned out well -- Cabrera beat Baez, and is doing a good job as Councilman.
What community/political projects are you guys working on?